Surrounded by machine-made perfect shapes I started noticing that the most inspiring human-made forms are the ones that have something imperfect, unfinished within them. That is why, having started to work with stones, I sought to keep their raw natural power and searched for a way of combining it with jewellery. Initial experiments in fitting the stones to a human body evolved into a collection of fifty one rings. Many different stones were used for the rings – rose quartz, jasper, lapis lazuli, agate, serpentine, rock crystal and many others. I also added some coloured, synthetic stones for their radiant colours, which juxtaposed with the bulk of the stones used seem audacious, yet refreshing. The working process consisted of long hours of cutting, grinding and engraving stones while trying to preserve the rough surfaces, unpolished textures, and chaotic, sketchy, seemingly random compositions. When starting a work, I unwittingly begin to plan, rationalise and search for a solution, so I had to stop myself and swap the plan for an unrestrained play with colours and forms. The spontaneous and seemingly unfinished result of the collection was a way of approaching the concept of the open work – a work with fluid boundaries, which changes according to every gaze of the spectator and with every new interpretation. Thus the conclusive meanings of the rings are to be created by the wearers, as important to the result, and to the realization of the work of jewellery, as its author. www.instagram.com/ievagrigiene www.ievagrigiene.com
